Smaller Alberta businesses will slash investment 27% in 2016, survey finds

A new survey shows small and medium-sized businesses in Alberta will slash spending more than expected this year as the oil downturn hits every level of the province's economy.

The government-owned Business Development Bank of Canada says smaller businesses in the province plan to invest about $11 billion this year, 27 per cent less than last year.

That compares with a 14 per cent increase in planned spending in British Columbia, and either flat or modest growth in spending across the rest of Canada.

BDC chief economist Pierre Cleroux says he expected spending to go down in Alberta, but was "surprised by the magnitude of the drop."

The BDC survey heard from roughly 4,000 executives of companies across Canada with between one and 499 employees.

Cleroux said this year will be worse than last year as the reality of low oil prices fully sinks in, with 66 per cent of survey respondents in Alberta saying a lack of confidence in the economy was their main barrier to investing.

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